Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Will one last start be enough for A.J. Burnett?

Yankees fans, raise your hands if you feel extremely confident with A.J. Burnett on the mound for a potential postseason start. Anyone?

Burnett said he was “frustrated” after taking this spanking by the Blue Jays on a Rogers Centre mound he used to call home, and with just one regular season start left before the Yankees need to decide how best to use Burnett, the clock is running out for adjustments to be made.

“I’m not going to let this bother me,” Burnett said. “It’s a rough night tonight, but I had a couple to deal with before this one. We’ll go again in five days. I’m not going to quit, I’m going to keep going at it. I’ll come here tomorrow with a good attitude and start working.”

Working with pitching coach Dave Eiland, Burnett said, at not grooving fastballs down the middle and hanging his breaking balls, to start. Already looking ahead to his next outing against the Red Sox, Burnett said he could hit the mattress tonight knowing his preparation had been done right, but he acknowledged the execution was lacking.

Still, Burnett said he expects to be included by Joe Girardi if and when the Yankees finally secure a postseason berth and can begin planning their pitching rotation for the American League Division Series.

“Joe’s going to make the decisions on his own,” Burnett said. “I can get in a groove. He saw what I did last year in the postseason. Everyone says the season doesn’t matter here, the postseason does. There you go.

“… Last year is last year. That’s my answer to all the postseason questions. It’s tough to deal with at any stage. It’s frustrating, it’s disappointing. I constantly tip my hat to the bullpen guys, they slam the door every time I pitch.”

With a postseason berth still out there to be locked up, the Yankees will indeed start CC Sabathia tomorrow against the Blue Jays.

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17 Comments

With Burnett anything is possible. He might pitch a no-hitter against the Sox this weekend and he might give up 10. If he pitches a great game, it might be the beginning of a roll for him, and it might be worth looking at him in the playoffs. Three man rotations work in the postseason and everybody knows who the Yankee three will be. If Burnett is lousy against Boston, he’s not even on the playoff roster. If he’s good, he’s long relief and gets a start only if team is up 3-0.

Fox article by Jon Morosi–I think he might be on to something. He obviously feels the same way about Burnett as we all do. He is being defended by Girardi and Girardi even after the mess he pitched last night is still talking about Burnett staying in the rotation and pitching in the playoffs. Whether this theory about Vasquez is a good one might be questionable given his record this year and his last outing against the Blue Jays. Maybe Moseley might be more credible than Vasquez. We really have missed Aceves this year. But he’s right about CC having 7 days rest and messing up the rotation if the Yankees make it to the playoffs and it is obvious they probably will whether they win the division or not. But this obsession by Girardi and management with the “pie man” pitching regularly in rotation when he has done such a crappy job in most games in the last half of the season is ridiculous. Obviously they don’t want to admit they should never have signed him to the contract and the money they signed him.

I doubt that CC will sit for 7 days but may see half a game especially if the Yanks are in and by some sort of miricle have the division in hand as well. If we need him in order to win the division you can bet he will be there. You are right … every pitcher has a day when all is right with the world. Unfortunately for us that has not been the case with Aj. Maybe he needs to spend time in the minors to see if he can regain his form and start pitching to the level he is expected t but hta will not help us now. Vazquez is a possibility but you never know who is going to show up on any given day. He has been more reliable out of the pen than as a starter. Maybe this is the best place for him.

All have to remember that on occasion everything goes right for a pitcher, even Burnett. And we seem to be running into more than our share of brilliant performances by pitchers with something to prove. It’s best to do it against the Yankees. Good pitching always beats good hitting!

?Speaking of Blue Jays pitchers, Marc Rzepczynski was outstanding, including six straight strikeouts to tie a Blue Jays franchise record. Girardi said players were coming back to the dugout talking about pitches that looked like knuckleballs. ?His ball was moving everywhere,? Teixeira said. ?We?ve faced him a few times this year and we?ve never seen him that good. It?s like swinging at a ghost out there. You didn?t know what it was going to go do.?-Chad Jennings

There is no doubt that the bats have been absent as of late but the post season historically has been a different story. This will turn around.

CC had his off outting last week and will be on his game tonight. He brings a level of confidence when he pitches and the rest of the team feeds of it. I think if he is on, we will be in the playoffs tomorrow morning.

The issue really is where do we go from here with the post season rotation …. here is a thought … CC, Huges, Pettitte, Mosley, and maybe Nova?? This keeps the middle relief intact with Wood, Vazquez, Mitre, Logan, & Chamberlin.
Will Tampa faulter with their remainings schedule, which is eassier than NY’s?

I’m sick and tired of the excuses and rationalizations after a lousy game by the Yankees and especially after a terrible outing by AJ and there have been many this year. However he got 18 wins in Toronto I don’t know. He’s not the pitcher he was the year he won 18 in Toronto. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it was the Halladay influence. But it’s gone and noone seems to be able to fix it or perhaps AJ won’t listen to Eiland about what could fix it he’s so arrogant and thinks, “Well I’ve got this far and I got this much money so I must be alright. I’ve got nothing to fix”. But offensively the Yankees stunk last night too except for the 2 home runs. 14 strike outs against a guy that’s just appeared on the scene this year without much experience? The Yankees made him look like a Cy Young candidate which they’ve done with a lot of pitchers this year. Can’t win tonight with CC pitching against Drabek, a rookie? Might as well pack your bags and go home now.

Oh, and one other thing, AJ. Maybe you ought to let it bother you. Maybe, that’s the problem. You just want to move on. Well, I’m for that. Move on to another team, if you can find one that will have you.

Hey AJ: I’ve been working extremely hard, and my preparation is second to none. Every day I have great workouts. Every night I go to sleep knowing that I’ve done everything right. And, guess what? I can’t pitch either!

In other words, who cares what you do off the mound? It’s execution, execution, execution while your on the mound. And you my friend, may be a nice guy and players on the team may like you a lot. But You don’t perform, and that’s the name of this game. And if players could be honest, they would probably admit that they don’t want you out there either. But, don’t worry. Clueless Joe will let you go out there simply because he remembers how tough you were against the Yanks. But having a 10 & 15 record and a 5.33 ERA on a team that is close to having the best record in baseball means that you deserve to sit. Anyone would be better.

This guy is now a sub .500 pitcher with the Yankees. Regardless of whether he is on the postseason roster or not I am with you 4everayankee it is time to cut the losses and move on. The Yankees do not need his consent to trade him and frankly I’d move this guy onward. Another in the line of pitching busts for the Yankees.

I would seem to be a no brainer that AJ should not be in the starting rotation for the post season. I think Mosley maybe the best choice as Vasquez also has not lived up to the hipe and Gaudin has been spiratic. Kerry Wood is a possibility but then you loose him for middle relief. Where should Nova fit in? He may have trouble getting past 5 or 6 innings but that is certainly better than not being able to get out of the 3rd.
Cashman has said, with the exception of CC and Mo, no one has a spot in the rotation … they have to perform. We’ll see ???? It seems that management is clue less to the need for better pitching! No effort was made to aquire anyone before the trading deadline.
WAIT … We got Kearns and Berkman. Maybe you could see the merritt of Berkman but what has Kearns done??? Nothing but strikeout most of the time and he is slow in the field. Gardner is much better defensively, has better on base percentage, and did I mention he can run???

Okay this should be fairly simple one would think. Has Yankee management been watching something different than the rest of us? Burnett just stinks!!! He has not been worth the investment but for now we are stuck with him. If you were willing to sub Mosley for Hughs, and changed your mind then why would you not sub Mosley for Burnett? Mosley certainly has done better than Burnett!!! Burnett has only been a liability, not an asset, this year. Frankly he has not been that impressive since he came to the team. IT IS TIME TO CUT OUR LOSSES!!!

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